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Unit 1 Alliances
Vocabulary:
Language:
Career skills:
Writing:
Vocabulary
Alliances
Review of tenses
Building relationships
Email agreeing to a meeting
1 Use the clues to find the words in the puzzle.
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2
3
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goals
to weaken
a conflict
having business in many countries
bringing together
sensible, wise
takeover of another company
company with a diverse portfolio of businesses
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T A R G E T S
L
L
I
A
N
C
E
2 Complete the sentences with on, over, in, up, out or down.
1
2
in
The company has seen an improvement
market share.
BusTec and SweFact have decided to co-operate
a major
project.
3 It was a mistake to invest
Silco shares.
4 The CEO announced that the company would be taken
by
Kids2grow.
5 I think we should concentrate
our core competences.
6 It’s important that we don’t give
control of the business.
7 The type of kitchen equipment Resolve produces is going
of
fashion.
8 Can we really afford to turn
their offer?
9 Without new investment, the company is likely to go
of
business.
10 The economy is slowing
– we can’t afford to take risks right
now.
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3 Complete the table below.
1
verb
noun
integrate
integration
2
bid
3
partner
4
acquisition
5
consolidate
6
achievement
7
merge
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Reading
success
Read the article about drug firm takeovers. Then choose the best
sentence below to fill each of the gaps.
a There are few synergies between the two sorts of drug manufacture.
b Companies need to be big enough to dominate distribution channels to
wholesalers.
c Generic drug sales totalled $30 billion last year in the eight biggest
markets.
d But not everyone is happy.
e The acquisition will make Sandoz the world’s largest generic drugmaker.
The Economist
Business
Combination therapy
Novartis buys two generic drugmakers
N
ovartis, a Swiss drug giant, has
announced its purchase of
Hexal, a German generics firm,
and a sister company in America, Eon
Labs, for a combined cost of $8.3
billion.
Novartis already has a generic
drug division, called Sandoz, which
struggled last year to sell $3 billionworth of drugs, roughly one-third
more than Hexal and Eon Labs
e
combined. 1
It will also
give it a stronghold in Germany, the
world’s
second-largest
generics
market. 2
They are likely
to grow by a healthy 10% a year until
2009, says IMS Health, a data and
consultancy firm, as public and
private buyers in Europe and America
look for ways to cut their drugs bill.
Only a few years ago big drug
firms, which had bought generics
companies in the hope of making
easy money, were busy trying to offload them. 3
Generic
drug-making is “a gloves-off business
compared to the gentlemanly boxing
match which is Big Pharma,” says
Neal Hansen of Datamonitor, a
research firm. In generics, success
depends on being cheap enough to
keep manufacturing and other costs
down. 4
They also have to
be fast enough to move in and out of
markets as opportunity ebbs and
flows. Staying ahead of the
competition is a further challenge.
Novartis may make Sandoz big
and broad enough to do that, at least
for now. 5
Health
activists, concerned about rising drug
prices and restricted access to
medicines, are already grumbling
about the incursion of the big drug
firms into the plucky underdog
business of generics.
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Listening
T2
1 Before you listen to a business radio programme about Unilever,
make notes on what you know about the company’s area of
business, its competitors and the problems it faces.
2 Now listen and complete the notes below.
Unilever
Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch (1) … multinational
It is a large (2) ……………………………… retailer.
Patrick Cescau is to become the company’s (3) ……………
Antony Burgmans will become the non-executive (4) ……
There are two possible (5) ……………… targets –
Colgate-Palmolive and Reckitt Benckiser.
Unilever’s debts are (6) $ … b.
Last year sales fell by (7) … %
It has lowered its (8) ……………………… targets.
The company has some problems, for instance, not
enough (9) ………………………
3 Check that you understand the following words and phrases
about mergers and acquisitions. Then listen again. Tick those used
in the listening.
multinational
resources
stockmarket
rival
deal
partnership
competitiveness
profits
takeover targets
debts
integration
budget
market share
strategic
shareholder
Language check
1 Look at these sentences. Some are correct. Identify the correct
sentences and find and correct the mistakes.
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2
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Unit 1
never borrow
We are never borrowing money at such high rates of interest.
He arrived late for the meeting because he had forgotten the time.
My colleague seems optimistic about the proposed takeover, although
the company’s shares have fallen.
The organisation certainly didn’t expected as many culture clashes.
By the end of tomorrow we’ll definitely signed a deal.
The CEO’s taking a back seat at the moment.
When have you heard from our rivals? Yesterday?
It was several weeks since I met our partners.
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2 Read the conversation extracts and complete the gaps with
phrases for building relationships.
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2
3
4
5
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Writing
A: I don’t think we’ve met . I’m Sylvia Jacobs. We’ve spoken on the
phone a few times.
B: Oh yes, of course. Hello!
A:
card.
B: Thank you. I’ll definitely be in touch.
A: So, who do you work for?
B: Paul and Moger. We
.
A: Flately’s is about to expand operations into China.
B: How interesting! I’d love
.
A:
meeting? Would Tuesday at 10 suit you?
B: That’d be just fine.
A:
the main speaker?
B: I found him really inspiring, actually.
A:
you?
B: I’d like some information about your Scandinavian furniture, please.
Read the email about a possible meeting. Write an email in reply:
–
–
–
–
thanking Lesley for her email
expressing interest in meeting
saying what you would like to discuss
giving a possible time and date to meet.
Then compare your answer with the suggested answer on page 90.
[email protected]
[email protected]
Future plans
Dear Siobhan
It was nice to meet you at the Frankton Business Forum
last week, and to hear about the expansion of your
business.
Would you be interested in meeting up to discuss
possible partnership working for the future?
Best regards
Lesley James
Unit 1
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